I stare into the dark, wide eyed, and mutter to myself quietly, "What the-? But... the creature..." I pause, "Oh hell..."
I throw the sheets off of myself and then I place my feet on the cold floor. I walk over to the wall with the mirror ad I see the same image I saw the day before... and the day before that.
I stare at my reflection, lightly placing my hands on my face to rub it. There are no scratches or burns, nothing is out of place. Just like before. "Oh my gods. What the hell is going on?"
I walk to the door and open it. I look out into the hallway, and then I walk out. I shake my head while walking, wondering what happened. Clearly the creature didn't cause this, so what did? I am so overwhelmed in my thoughts that I run into someone. I already know who it is.
I look up to see Steve, in the same t-shirt and army pants he wore before, not a hint of dirt on his face as usual. When I look at him, he seems to perk up. "Oh, Esther, you're up," he stutters. "Are you okay? I was just going to check on you."
I shake my head. "No, Steve. I'm not really okay. I am actually far from it."
He frowns a little because I seem completely fine but give him attitude.
I close my eyes and place my forefinger and thumb on the bridge of my nose. "I just... I'm sorry. I can't think straight right now."
"That's fine. I understand. You took a hard hit..."
I laugh. "Oh, you honestly have no idea."
He frowns a tad with confusion as to what she means and doesn't know how to reply. He hesitates. "D-do you want to lie down? Or maybe get something in your stomach?"
I nod. "Food. I need something to eat."
He nods and walks with me to the entry of the common room. Everything is the same just like before. Would I still refer to it as yesterday?
I look around and see that everyone is talking. My eyes land on Stark and when he notices me, he goes to comment on my presence, but I beat him to it. "Yes, I'm alive. Shocking right?"
He stands up still but frowns. "...I suppose..." he stutters in confusion.
I give him a slight nod and then I walk away. Clearly the stripper comment is not going to be made since Steve and I weren't arm in arm, so there is no point in holding a conversation. I spot Pietro and Darcy talking and Wanda is hanging near them. I should probably go introduce myself formally. Yeah, I'll go do that. I walk over towards them. "Hey Darcy," I say to her and then I look to the twins, "I'm Esther. And you are?"
"Oh hey Esther. This is the guy who almost killed me," Darcy says to me.
"Pietro Maximoff and this is Wanda," Quicksilver introduces with his arms folded over his chest. "I hope there are no hard feelings about me trying to kill you back there, Miss Mason."
I smile. "None whatsoever."
Wanda doesn't make eye contact with me. But Pietro just smirks.
That's when I hear Natasha ask, "Who ate all the Pop Tarts?"
I eye Thor as a guilty expression appears on his face. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Shame on you, Thor."
"Aw not again," Darcy complains. "What's with this guy and Pop Tarts?"
"How did you know it was me?" he says with offense.
I smirk. "Easy. It was written all over your face."
He immediately rubs his face as if there's something on it, making a confused frown.
Jane starts laughing at him.
"Hey you two were working for Hydra right?" Bruce asks the twins.
"Or for Nebula?" Jane asks.
As the familiar conversation begins, my head and ears wander. That's when I hear something in the training room.
No one pays attention to me as I sneak out. I walk down the short hallway and reach the doorway to the massive training room to peak my head in. I can't see if anyone is farther into the room so I fully step through the door to cautiously check if anyone is here. There isn't. It was probably just an air vent or a pipe. I linger there for a second, staring at the walls and the training equipment.
"Esther?" someone gasps from the doorway far behind me.
I turn my head to see who it is and am greeted by a pair of familiar green eyes. "Hey."
He is standing there with a look of sadness but relief on his face as the nightmare of what just recently happened still lingers in his head as if he had thought me dead. It's true he was running to me when that ship came down... He probably watched me die brutally from that but without him. He breathes and fast walks towards me. On impact he pulls me into a very unexpected and rather hasty embrace, his arms wrapping around me as his hand cradles my head and his own rests against it.
I chuckle and wrap my arms around his waist to hug him back. "Well hello to you too."
He has never hugged me before and this one seems rather desperate. He clings to me and shuts his eyes with relief. He has completely forgotten to feel embarrassed about his sudden attachment to me it seems. Something tells me he doesn't care anymore. "I saw the ship come down and I thought you were done for," he breathes with relief.
"I thought I was as well, but it seems we were both wrong."
"Thank the All Maker for that," he chuckles and quickly places a kiss on my hair without thinking. Like I had said before he doesn't care to hide his attachment. He backs away just enough to look me in the eyes and he pulls his eyebrows together. "Why would this happen again? Why did we wake up?"
I shake my head slightly. "I have no idea. I thought it was the creature, but that theory turned out to be false."
"And it seems the Time Gem isn't in it. I saw two of those blue demons out there..."
I let out a sigh. "Great. Now we have to come up with a new theory."
He shakes his head. "We can't figure this out on our own. We need answers..."
"Where would we get them? Or more importantly, who would have them?"
"Well there are four scientists in this base, a physician, another alien, and three agents that have been into every document known to man. If no one here has answers I'm not sure who would," he says to me with a brow lifted.
I nod. "True. But how would we get the information from them? We can't just go up to them and ask how someone can time travel every time they died. That would definitely make them think that we are crazy."
"Well then perhaps it all depends on how you word it. I would suggest asking yourself what you would believe and start there. And if that doesn't work then spill every detail. We have to try. We can't just keep doing this."
I nod once more. "Yes, I agree. Ok, yeah, I'll just ask myself. That sounds good. We've got this. Alright. Do I believe in time travel? Obviously. Would I have before? Not really. Unless there was a reasonable explanation behind it and there were facts and data showing that it could happen. Is there data or facts about time travel? You said so yourself that everything that you've read about time travel is false or made up. So, that doesn't really get us anywhere. However, you are not the others and so others might have different theories on it. So, the best question or questions would be to ask if they believe in time travel and if they do, do they have proof on if it is real or not," I finally conclude.
"I suppose we must start on some form of madness," he replies, agreeing.
"It's all we've got. The question is, when do we ask them?"
"Preferably as soon as possible," he says with attitude.
"Then let's go," I say as I walk out of the room towards the commons. As I reach the room, Stark asks, "What do you suggest? It's the whole world, Rogers. We can't be everywhere," and I immediately remember what Steve says in response. So before he has the chance to respond, I beat him to it. "So what are you saying? That we should just hide here and wait it out? Leave after everyone is dead?"
Steve raises a brow as if to say "well that's a valid point."
Tony looks at me and speaks less harshly than he would if talking to Steve. "I'm saying that there's going to be casualties. But we have to find a way to focus on the big picture of stopping Nebula—"
I cut him off, "Or blowing up the ship like it's a Death Star."
He hesitates and shuts his mouth with a confused frown as to how I would know exactly what he was going to say...
"A what...?" Steve asks with confusion.
I roll my eyes. "Nothing Steve, it's just a reference to something. And besides, Stark's right. Everyone has a weakness and we will find hers."
"We'll find it from in here?" Clint asks with disbelief.
"Nope."
Some looks are exchanged.
"Alright here's what we can do," Captain starts. "Loki and Th--"
I cut him off, just like Stark. "Loki and Thor. You guys are going to have you tell him all you can about Nebula and Thanos including the myths and rumors. Romanoff and Barton will find out all they can on her whereabouts including any armies she has on earth and how many Hydra are left. Stark and Banner will work on figuring out any possible way we get to that ship and any soft spots it has seeing as it's pointless to try anything down here. Anyone who is left needs to be in the training room preparing for a fight."
Steve lifts a finger as if to comment or correct something but then stops himself and frowns... That was exactly what he was thinking and how he would have arranged it...
There is a moment of silence as people exchange odd looks and questionable ones.
Loki holds back a smirk.
Darcy raises her hand but answer her question before she can ask it. "Yes Darcy, you have to do cardio."
"Okay are you like psychic or something?" she asks.
I smirk. "If you mean that I already know what you are going to say, then yes."
She raises an eyebrow and glances at Jane.
"You know, now that I realize we are all together, I have a question that needs to be answered. Who in here believes in time travel?"
Again, eyes are exchanged all around the room. "...Relatively impossible," Banner says.
The others just look confused and questioning.
I sigh. "Come on people, I need a yes or a no."
"Esther what are you getting at?" Rogers asks.
I look at him for a second, but decide to just tell him part of it. "I need to know if anyone in here thinks that time travel is real and why they think it is."
"Time travel is physically impossible. Any outcome from it would contradict its previous state and make every action... contradict itself in a way that just couldn't be done..." Doctor Selvig answers.
"And that would be reason number one of seven thousand why it wouldn't be possible and that's the simple explanation," Stark states.
I nod. "Alright. So that's clearly a no from the both of you. And you stated why, good. That helps. Thank you. Anyone else agree with them?"
"I would assume they do, sweetheart," Loki sasses as he comes to my side. "Why don't we move on? After all this isn't the craziest part of our little adventure yesterday. Or should I say 'tomorrow'?"
Steve frowns with suspicion.
"Yes, you're right," I say with a sigh. "Alright. Everyone, we've got some big news. It's going to sound crazy, but I'm just going to come out and say it. We are from the future!"
"Oh dear All Maker," Loki immediately says with disbelief.
There is hesitation and frowns come to everyone's faces.
"How hard did she hit her head?" Pietro asks Wanda to his left.
"Is Loki a Time Lord?" Darcy asks.
"Darcy," Jane scolds.
"What?"
"Shut up."
"Esther we don't have time for joking around," Steve says with irritation.
"You think that I'm making this up? Then explain how I know that Tony proposed to Pepper."
Pepper spits out her water she was drinking all over Thor as everyone's jaw drops.
"He did what?" Natasha asks with shock.
"Oh my God," Darcy grins, looking happy and surprised, along with Jane as well.
"You said you weren't going to tell anyone!" Stark accuses Pepper as his cheeks blush red.
"You little liar! You told!" she accuses in return.
"I did not!"
Steve and Clint are chuckling and Darcy is giggling.
"Well someone did!" Pepper argues.
"We were the only ones who knew! I swear!" Tony says.
"So this is true?" Natasha tries not to laugh.
"Aww that's so sweet," Pietro jokes.
"Hey knock it off!" Tony grumbles. "I liked it when we were making fun of Esther not me."
My arms cross over my chest. "You shouldn't make fun of me. And Pepper told me. Yesterday when we were training. Or technically, later today when we train."
"You did?" Stark asks her angrily, still embarrassed.
"No! I—she just said she's from the future and I'm the one you're not believing?!"
"She's not from the future..." Clint says to them with a frown of complete disbelief, like he is disappointed in anyone who would believe what I said.
I roll my eyes at him and then look at Pietro. "If I'm not from the future, then tell me how I know that when you were training in Hydra, their technique they told you was thinking of your worst fear and then imagining yourself overcoming that fear? Or that you act like a drill sergeant when you train people and your sister had always thought that too? Or that you usually bug her about getting muscle and she says 'you need more personality,' and that's when you call her something offensive and then she makes you run into a wall?"
He and his sister both frown and Pietro opens his mouth to try and explain but he doesn't know what to say.
I look at Wanda. "And how would I know that you call him Silver Fro?" I turn to Rogers. "Or that Fury always told you a man can accomplish anything when he realizes he's a part of something bigger; that a team of people who share that conviction can change the world?"
His eyebrows are pulled together.
"And I know that you think Pietro is hot!" I accuse Darcy.
She drops her jaw but her cheeks blush. People crack laughter.
"Really?" Pietro raises his brows and looks at her to his right.
"I do not!" she argues.
"Yeah you do! You said he's a big jock with gorgeous eyes!" I return.
She gasps. "I am not going to sit here and listen to you people accuse me of things that are clearly true!" she crosses her arms and leaves.
"Wow..." Jane mutters.
"And that's not all," I say.
"You've probably just read all our minds," Tony says.
"Nuh-uh. Then how would I know how to do this?" I grab Pietro's arm in the way he taught me, some crazy involved move that gets him to the ground on his back.
Loki chuckles as he watches that.
Wanda's jaw drops. "You've only taught me that move!" she says to Pietro.
Qhicksilver groans in pain, "I know."
I look at Steve again. "And then at one point, you and Loki started fighting over me and I remember that Pepper said that she had never seen so much testosterone in one room since she saw Tony kick box in front of Natasha."
Romanoff lets out a short but loud laugh at Stark and he just looks regrettably guilty and scratches the back of his neck.
Clint starts chuckling beside Natasha.
"Now that does sound like something I'd say," Pepper admits.
"I told you, love, we weren't fighting over you," Loki says as he stops laughing. "He just challenged me. I was only being honorable as he accused me of not being capable of."
"Okay I didn't challenge anyone. And I wouldn't be stupid enough to actually—" Steve starts, his cheeks pink as he looks offended.
"Yes you would," Tony tells him.
"So would," Natasha mutters.
He glares at them and sets his jaw angrily.
Loki chuckles. "But as these things are very important, I think we better focus on the facts. Esther isn't mad and she's not lying so therefore she must be telling the truth, correct?" he looks smugly at them.
"The facts? All of these tricks are certainly convincing but the fact is time travel just isn't possible," Banner says.
"But clearly it is. I mean, it's been the same way every time. We both die and then we wake up in a certain location at a certain time," I say in our defense.
"'We'? Both you and Loki?" Clint asks.
I nod. "Yes. We both died. At first, we thought that it was a creature that caused it, but it clearly wasn't since the second time it happened, I got crushed by a burning ship."
"And what happened to start all of this? What triggered it?" Jane asks with curiosity. The others don't seem to believe or care but science always sparks her attention to matter how crazy.
I shrug. "We don't know. We thought that it had something to do with Nebula and the Infinity Stones, but it isn't. It's something else. That's why I wanted to ask you all if you had any theories on it. To see if we could get some answers."
"Can you tell me what happened the first time you died?"
"Jane, you're not really taking this seriously are you?" Selvig asks.
"What? I'm curious," she snaps.
I ponder this for a moment. "There were creatures attacking the base. Everyone was trying to get the injured away from this place and to a more safe location. One was about to attack me; a different one... I mean it was a different color than the rest. But it got blown up and we got caught in the explosion."
"Don't forget covered in its coal black flesh eating acidic blood," Loki says smugly.
I nod. "Yes, can't forget that. That was also essential to the cause of death."
Jane is frowning and looking down. Suddenly she remembers something. "...The Omega Theory..." she mutters. Then she turns to Eric Selvig. "You know there's a way to time travel. What about that old theory we found in the archives?"
"Jane that was a misguided idea. It was only a hypothesis. There wasn't enough data backing it for it to even come close to a theory," he explains.
"You said yourself that it was interesting. You only say that when you believe somehow it has a chance of being true." She approaches him.
"What is this theory?" Banner asks.
"It was research done by an unknown scientist a long time ago that had somehow studied something he believed to be a natural way of restarting time. This object that had the power to restart time twenty-four hours exactly whenever it wanted. We lost the rest of the document but that page was what we found. He called it the Omega Study—"
"'Omega'? Wait a minute..." Loki says. Then he walks up to his brother. "Thor, do you remember the old stories we were told as children?"
"Yes the tales of Omega and Alphas," he replies with furrowed brows.
I frown. "What is that?"
"They are legends of an army that could predict the enemies' attacks and the great force took out whole realms in the ancient times," Thor answers. "They were just stories... or so we thought... The army is made up of Mimics and Alphas. The smaller ones are Mimics and mere pawns. But the larger ones were never able to be killed. They always knew what their opponent would do next. Those creatures can move to destroy worlds with an ability to work together unlike any army of human beings in existence. The thought was that they were controlled by a single brain."
"The Omega holds the Time Gem. The Omega is the brain," Loki states as if he is just now discovering this.
I frown. "Wait, then what would we be?"
"Well that can be explained..." Jane says as she figures something out. She walks forward and lays out a paper over the table of cluttered documents, marking down notes and drawings.
Loki, Thor, Selvig, and I surround the table to look.
"What if these 'Alphas' are like the central nervous system of the Omega? And when one is killed, the Omega could reset everything and start over a day before? That must be how the Alphas know their opponents' attacks. With an enemy that knows the future, they couldn't possibly lose."
Thor exchanges a look with his brother. "Yes that makes sense," Thor admits.
"And when you guys were on the field, you were killed by an Alpha and covered in its blood, correct?" Jane asks.
I nod. "Yes."
"Well then that means in that moment, the Alpha's blood mixed with both of yours, and when you died, you reset the day just like an Alpha could. You got this... gift in your veins. You entered the system of the Omega. So now instead of it controlling time, it's you two."
"So when one of us dies, the day will start again?" Loki asks.
"Exactly," she says.
I stare at the table, a smile working its way onto my face. "Wow. That means that we're sort of immortal, right?"
"Well as long as you're okay with dying everyday then sure," Jane states.
I frown. "Eh, not really. I think that I'll stick to living. Besides, it takes too long to explain everything to you guys."
Loki snickers.
"So this means Loki and Esther can change our fate?" Thor asks.
"We don't make it five minutes through the fight tomorrow," Loki complains.
"Well if you can just restart every time then you can get us all safe with being able to predict their movements, right?" Jane folds her arms.
"We wouldn't make it a mile from the base," Loki says.
"You two can fight them off if you know what they are planning. You can save us."
"'Fight'?" he laughs sarcastically. "This girl's not ready to fight these things," he sasses about me.
I look offended. "Excuse me, I can fight better than you can, dipthong!" I say with attitude.
"Oh I'm sorry, don't you have a battle to die at?" he lifts his brows.
"Don't you have a cute little animal to murder?" I return.
"Alright enough of that," Thor scolds us like a father. "Let us focus on this, shall we?"
"Exactly. And Loki, if you doubt her so much, why don't you train her? You have all the time in the world right?" Jane says.
He hesitates but then shuts his eyes and lets out a sigh.
I raise a brow at him. "Yeah Loki, if you claim that I don't know how to fight those things, then I need to learn somehow."
"Oh I'd rather swallow my tongue," he mutters, trying to be smug like me.
"Actually that's her job," Pietro remarks to my right.
I kick him in his lightsaber before he can walk past me and he cringes in pain.
"So he's training you," Jane states.
"Agreed," I add.
Loki looks at me and rolls his eyes before standing up straight and walking back aways. He frowns. "Wait a minute, so we can do whatever we want and just start over by killing each other?"
Some looks are exchanged.
"Essentially..." Jane says.
He makes a smug look and then steps forward to touch his brother behind the neck plainly and Thor drops to the ground, electrocuting him through some spell of his. Loki just chuckles to himself as he watches Thor twitch and die in pain hysterically on the floor as my jaw drops and I look at him with disgust and disbelief.
I stand next to him and cross my arms as he just laughs and Thor finally dies. I set my jaw in disappointment but also I'm not surprised at Loki.
We stare at Thor until I let out a sigh and roll my eyes, pulling out the pistol from my side and cocking it before straightening my arm to aim it right at his head and I pull the trigger. I hear the shot and immediately I wake up in my bed.
I sigh and get up out of the bed. I walk over to the door and then down the hallway, thinking of how much I want to punch Loki when I see him. I spot Steve making his way here. Rather than bumping into him, I smile. "Hey Steve."
He says the same thing as always with a concerned and sweet look. "Esther. You're up. Are y—"
I nod. "I'm fine. Do you want to go get some food? I'm famished."
He hesitates but then nods. "Yeah sure. Let's go." He and I walk towards the common room.
Upon entry I sigh and Tony begins with, "Hey—"
"She's alive," I cut him off. "Yes, I am," I say with a tone of being done with this. I walk past them.
"Hey Esther—" Darcy starts.
"Pietro and Wanda. I already know them," I say, not caring. I go to the kitchen area and find something to fill my stomach. After I eat alone I get up, people hesitant around me.
I look over at Agent Romanoff who digs around in the cupboards. And tell her, "Natasha? Thor ate them." I turn and walk through the room.
I am met by Loki at the doorway. "Get your weapons and meet me outside. We have work to do," he tells me before walking past me to leave out the base.
Oh lovely. Here begins training with Loki. This should be fun.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
__________________________
(song: "Sam at the Lake" by Steve Jablonsky)
(song: "Dust" by Hans Zimmer)
(song: "Impress Me" by Steve Jablonsky)